this video reciting a poem, "his day is done." she will join me to reflect on the man she calls the heart of africa. >> will i be able to remember all that i've learned from him, from his kindness and his generosity of spirit. will i remember? i thank god i do. >> and that wintry storm from north to south with snow, ice, freezing temperatures, it isn't over yet. we'll have the latest forecast on where it's headed next.

good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. as the world leaders prepare to honor nelson mandela, heads of state from 89 nations are expected to attend activities and services tomorrow in south africa. this morning president obama, joined by first lady and former president george w. bush, laura bush, former secretary of state hillary clinton all left washington from andrews air force base on "air force one." president clinton and jimmy carter will be meeting them in south africa. president obama will be speaking at tomorrow's memorial service. nbc's ron allen live in soweto. ron, this is a gathering of the great, families, people of south africa all gathering. you have covered this so long. tell me about the emotions as people in south africa prepare?

>>. >> reporter: it's an unbelievable atmosphere. we're across the street from the nelson mandela home, the home occupied from 1940s to 1990s. tomorrow is a day that will be unlike any other. there's more than 80 heads of state here. that will surpass the heads of state and world leaders who came to mourn and to say good-bye to pope john paul ii. largest gathering of heads of state outside of u.n. perhaps ever. we'll have to see how this day goes. and of course, there will be tens of thousands of people, perhaps millions of people, trying to get near the soccer stadium where this event will take place. it begins at 11:00 a.m. local time, 4:00 a.m. eastern time. either supposed to last for about four hours. we understand from the list of speakers that several of nelson mandela's grandchildren will speak, also his co-defendants

convicted with mandela in 1963 and sentenced to a life in prison on robben island. one of them will speak as well as heads of state, president obama, president of brazil, china, india, raoul castro of cuba. this country has been friends and allies for some time. quite a day ahead of us, andrea. that's just one day. there will be several days where nelson mandela's body will lie in state at the union building at the national capital here and, of course, culminating event, the funeral in the eastern province. a poor rural area which was nelson mandela's homeland underscoring his very humble beginnings where he will return to the ground where he was born. again, just a remarkable series of events over the next week or so. people from all over the world watching this. of course, this will be carried by social media, which didn't

exist when nelson mandela was born or just a few years ago. unbelievable how much traffic on social media. already people following day to day events marking passing of this singular individual. andrea. >> and ron, some very interesting match-ups, the fact nelson mandela has loyal to the country that supported them. raoul castro and president obama on the same stage when our two countries 90 miles apart had no interactions, renewed disputes over banking regulations that made temporarily at least, until today, the consulate had to shut down because they couldn't get access to bank under the security guideline. the security challenge not only for south africans but american officials, must be quite a security nightmare for all concerned. >> reporter: the south africans have pointed out they hosted the

world cup here a number of years ago. this event is nothing like any other. and yes, there are literally thousands upon thousands of soldiers and security forces who are going to be on duty here. unclear what that will all amount to. in addition to soccer stadium there are also three or four other stadiums in the johannesburg area where there will be huge crowds, people watching events on giant screen tvs. i imagine there will be people in the streets everywhere. yes, a security -- very, very complicated security situation. while we've been here, things have been very calm and peaceful. i have not seen any sort of violent outbreak. i've seen outpouring of emotion. people have been conducting themselves in a very respectful way and that is yet another of the remarkable accomplishments of nelson mandela. if, in fact, that continues throughout tomorrow. people are going to be somber, grieving, celebrating. i expect this to be a day of

decorum and manners and politeness as well because of the magnitude of this man. >> understanding that, it isn't the south africans, it is just the fact that so many world leaders are gathering in one place and will become a potential target at least as far as security concerns of officials around the world are involved. thank you very much, ron allen. thanks for being with us today. as leaders around the world honor nelson mandela this week, millions of others paying tribute including those with very personal connections to him. "meet the press" author dr. maya angelou remembered that day when nelson mandela first walked into freedom. >> i was so proud to be an american. i was proud to be a woman. i was proud to be a human being.

i was proud to see him walk out. that's who i am, this is who i can be. >> dr. maya angelou joins me by phone from north carolina. thanks very much for being with us. we also want to acknowledge you've had some other recent losses so this has been a very difficult period for you. tell me about when you first met nelson mandela. >> thank you. >> if i'm correct you were living in egypt then an he visited you. >> i was living in egypt. i was the wife of a south african freedom fighter, belonged to a rival organization than mr. mandela's. my husband was a pat, pan african congress, mr. mandela was founder of anc, african national congress, others south african national union. i was used to those men and a few women shouting and screaming at each other.

they were really arch rivals. when mr. mandela came, he didn't raise his voice. he didn't argue with anybody. he didn't put anybody down. they were rivals. i had never met a south african who wasn't shouting and really angry all the time. i know he was angry, but he didn't use his energy foolishly. so it was a year after that he was imprisoned. i became friends with his wife then, winnie mandela. and we continued to support each other over the years and over the oceans. and she would tell me how he was. he wasn't vitt uperative with t guards. i was part of hillary clinton's

delegates when he was inaugurated. i sat there and watched the guards, who had guarded him for 27 years, sitting in the right sights, in the best seats, invited by mr. mandela. not to say look how you treated me. i'm free now and i can ya ya ya at you, not that at all. in fact, he was gracious, welcome. he said, this is south africa. this is for all of us. blac blacks, all of us, this is our country. >> it's so interesting to hear your reflection, because i haven't talked to anyone who knew him, dr. angelou, who knew him before he went into prison. people talk about the crucible the 27-year imprisonment was.

you're reflecting he had this special grace in his heart and his soul even before he went into prison. i want to share with you what charlene hunter gault said to us right after his death was announced and we were on the air together. she said when she first met him when he walked out to freedom, and she was trying to create a connection and said, you know, i was part of the civil rights movement in the south. he said oh, do you know maya angelou? she meant so much to me, reading her in prison. you were in his heart and mind all those years. >> he told charlene gault that people had been slipping my books into him all the years. i spoke with one journalist who said, can you imagine being in the hell hole of a south african prison reading the caged bird.

>> this means so much to us. i know you've been through a lot in the last days. we just want to say thank you for recollections, thank you for your poetry, and thank you for being with us today. >> thank you miss mitchell. i admire. i watch you with great gratitude and appreciation. >> that is an enormous honor. >> that you very much for your own gentleness. you report on some hellish situations around the world but i never hear the hell in your voice. thank you. >> thank you for that. very much so. >> thank you. >> good-bye to you. coming up next, nelson mandela's leadership, his legacy. but first "nbc nightly news" anchor brian williams sat down in south africa with former president jimmy carter earlier today. >> gandhi and king as some of

the major figures of the last hundred years, where do you put him? >> i think so. i would say gandhi, martin luther king, jr., and nelson mandela would be in the forefront along with mother teresa, a, those who you look on with a great deal of gratification. they came through with flying colors. they inspired other people. to emulate their moral values as best they could. i think that nelson will go down in history as one of the leading people of this century. >> you can see more of brian williams interview with former president jimmy carter, a member of the elders created by nelson mandela tonight on a special edition of "nbc nightly news" from south africa. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. some are giant. some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant

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there are things he has done that i think deserve our support and i'd say appreciation because i think these steps he's taking move south africa down the road towards racial equity. >> nelson mandela emerged from prison on a sunday, then president george h.w. bush sent a very clear message of support quickly the next day by coming into the briefing room. american relations with nelson mandela, the man now universally considered one of the world's greatest leaders were not always good. in fact, he was long on the u.s. list of terrorists. join me u.s. ambassador to south africa under both president bush 41 and then president clinton, and of course during the

inauguration of nelson mandela. also author to 'n'. senior adviser to president obama for u.s. institute for peace. thank you very much. you've seen all of this history and you were there on the ground during this tumultuous period. president bush 41, as we just showed, quickly moved beyond the shadow of the early reagan years where president reagan vetoed legislation and that veto over with. the state department secretary of state schultz and others, former senate foreign relations chairman dick lugar were pushing very strongly for a different policy. >> they were. they knew the veto was a mistake. right after that secretary schultz moved to redescribe anc not as terrorist organization and open up contacts with the group in osaka.

>> you were on the ground when he came out -- >> after he came out. >> moved into the negotiations which were critical. >> went up and down in 1992, had a break in the negotiations, a serious break over violence. the two presidents, the two leaders, nelson mandela and f.w. de klerk came together, one of the things they agreed, which is a lesson for other peace processes that thereafter to acts of violence would be allowed to interrupt the peace process. the spoilers would not be allowed to do that. it was important because there was a lot of violence after that. >> that was also true of the northern ireland peace process. that was a key point they could not veto an agreement forward, a lesson not learned by israeli-palestinians sadly. what do you think was the special quality in nelson mandela and also his antagonists that let them come together. >> i think there are several things, of course, mentioned by

everyone. his understanding very clearly there needed to be a negotiated settle men. -- settlement. wasn't going to come from over running. he had to keep his people committed to that. one thing about nelson mandela that i think is important is that he had a sense of his own dignity. he knew that dignity was one of the ways he could keep people together. you have to respect it and you did it instinctively. he used that. i don't mean that in the negative sense, to say to people this is the way we have to go. >> i wanted to also ask you about ukraine, what is happening there now, play you a youtube video of george clooney the activist, very engaged in areas you know quite well. this is his message today to the people in the ukraine. >> so let me just say this to all of you in the square in kiev, all around ukraine, when

you look to the west, know that we are looking back at you with great admiration. we wish you a peaceful and safe nation. we wish you the government that you want, and we wish you the strength to carry on. good luck. >> how important is it for freedom movements to have outside support such as clooney to the people of ukraine, such as the people who did support many members of congress supporting people in south africa. >> it was very important. told me the decision to seek out both republican and democratic support in the congress was very important to them. sanctions were important. but it reinforced their own movement. without their own movement, it wouldn't have worked. even though a lot of movement had been made, as you describe, by bush 41, when i got there, there was still suspicious among a lot of the anc cadre, where

the u.s. was. nelson mandela said to vice president gore when he came out and said to me, our relationship with the united states is very important. most people were trained in the soviet union and you were a long time coming to support. so you need to work on building that trust. we tried very hard to do so. >> it was really a holdover from the cold war, which did influence ronald reagan's approach as well. >> it did. we were able during that time by supporting that process i kept in touch with him on everything we were doing and making it clear we were in back of that process all the way. i think he developed a wonderful -- he had a wonderful relationship with bush 41 and developed a very strong relationship with bill clinton and that was very important. >> personal relationships are so important. ambassador on the ground. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> great to see you. >> thank you. the town of newtown, connecticut still mourning, of

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columnist wrote it was his first citizen, this country's first citizen. joining me op-ed columnist for "the washington post" and, of course, former speechwriter for george w. bush. michael, great to see you. >> great to see you. >> thank you for being here. >> a special quality of nelson mandela, the man we are describing who came out of prison, who reconciled as dr. angelou said inviting in his inauguration, inviting his prison jailers to come and sit in the front row, who was able to see a broader vision. that's what you're referring to as first citizen in george washington. >> really the most extraordinary period of mandela's life, from the time of his release in 1990 until 1994, that was a period where south africa was on the edge of an abyss, a lot of racially motivated violence. mandela's good friend assassinated by a white supremacist. nelson mandela went on

television and called on his followers to be a disciplined force for peace and called for a shared future of the country. an extraordinary act of leadership at a time when everything could have fallen apart. the crowds were chanting, give us guns, give us guns at that time. it was just this man that held them together. that's an amazing thing. it was like george washington. he embodied democratic values at a key moment. >> one of the things he did that was so important was when his partner at anc and successor became hiv/aids, people dying all over the country mandela committed his organization to doing something with hiv/aids, getting retro viral drugs in after his own son died. >> he became an advocate, pressuring the government to deal with this in a more

forthright manner. it was not responsible at that point. i think that was one of his post government contributions that sometimes underestimated. >> brings me to pet far, lauded for transforming u.s. government role on hiv/aids following his leadership. here is a clip not too long ago with jay leno with president and mrs. bush talking about what they are doing now in tanzania. >> one of my favorite things, and you did this in africa and you did it here is watching you dance. i enjoy the dance stylings of former president george w. bush. ♪

>> yeah! yeah! yeah! >> he's obviously having such a great time. they do this very quietly. usually the cameras are not present. they have been there a lot. they are now on the plane, of course, on "air force one" flying to south africa with president obama and mrs. obama. >> he was in africa earlier this year and has been a couple of times since he left. this is part of the legacy, also malaria, president malaryan, challenges economic development, this was an extraordinary emphasis of the bush years. i think he's given increasing credit for this. when he goes back to south africa, he has a lot of friends on that continent. that may not be true in some other parts of the world but certainly is there. >> michael, great to see you. thanks for being with us today.

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welcome back. for one final week the house and senate in the house at the same time. that means there are four days to finish a budget deal that is more of a whimper than bang. they are closing in on a deal that doesn't address entitlement, fix the sequester, doesn't do much of anything else. lets just call it a temporary se cease-fire joining me chris cillizza, mark halperin, senior analyst msnbc,time editorial columnist ruth marcus. thanks to all. chris cillizza, what do we expect out of the ryan budget deal. >> chris van hollen of maryland, a very senior member in the house in terms of these budget deals gave it a 50/50 chance of happening. my guess is we'll get something, andrea. you hit on what's important

here. this is not a grand bargain, not a medium-sized bargain, this is a bargain probably the best -- if we do get a deal, the best we could say for it. it would replace some pieces of the sequestration, we believe. not all but some, and it would keep the government up and running beyond the january deadline. i guess at this point in washington, given what we've seen, that's success. this is not sort of a big solution, if there is a solution, there is not a big thought solution to the debt and spending issues that face our country. >> at the same time they have to decide what to do about extending unemployment insurance. ruth marcus, rand paul, lets hear what rand paul had to say about extending unemployment benefits. >> i do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks paid

for. if you do that you do a disservice to these workers. there was a study that came out that said if you have a worker on unemployment insurance 99 weeks, which would you hire. every employer, nearly 100% said they will always hire the person out of work four weeks. when you allow a person to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. >> that's sort of breathtaking, ruth. it's the unemployment insurance that creates the dependency. >> can you say scrooge? thank you for let me have at it. my mouth dropped open when i heard that. being unemployed for a long time is a very bad things in terms of your prospects. i would like to find one person out there who has been collecting unmoimt for that long-term who would not welcome

the chance in this holiday season, i would point out, to have their benefits extended. they are in a terrible situation as the senator pointed out. he just wins my garage award of the year. >> we may have to keep that award open. also "politico" magazine written on the contrast between the contrast between secretary of state john kerry and hillary clinton. mark halperin you've covered both. whether or not is the contrast here. it seems to me john kerry is in defatiguable. he got on a plane friday night, back on the plane to go back to hearings on iran deal, back to asia, may go back to israel we hear coming back in. they really are working hard and gave a speech on saturday when he came back. they are working on this israeli-palestinian thing as though there's a chance this

time. >> this is john kerry, i think a lot of us are not only surprised in how hardee's working but agile in working with a lot of issues. what i'm told about the white house's posture, the president giving this secretary of state a little more leeway to make deals than the last secretary of state has. senator kerry has decades of experience and clearly wants not only to get things done but to try to move things along wherever he k unlike some secretaries who focus on one or two projects, any time things pop up or there's an opening or crisis, he's been there. it's been hard to find someone whose expectations he has not surpassed. >> very clear over the weekend netanyahu and others in the cabinet now saying something that contradicts everything conventional wisdom said last week and week before, including my own, which is iran deal would jeopardize any chance of israeli-palestinian track. they are arguing in israel as

well as here that the two can be kept separate. i don't know if that's possible. netanyahu said this weekend he can compartmentalize. >> we'll have to see. going back to kerry versus clinton, who would have thought he could make secretary clinton look like a slacker in the travel department. it's so interesting to see the comparison. one, i think of janis joplin, freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. kerry has nothing left to lose. he's at the end of his career. secretary clinton was in the middle of hers and that's a piece of the difference. >> i hear chris cillizza, button that down. >> just to add, i'm glad ruth said it first, because i was going to say it. that's exactly what came to my mind. i do think mark knows this better than anyone. i do think the thing i see the a achilles heel too guarded, risk

averse, susan's piece guess at that in the secretary of state's office. we know that happened in 2008, would it be repeated in 2016. i think there's a real danger. >> quickly, if hillary clinton doesn't run for president, i bet you john kerry does. >> that's a first prediction. you're doubling down as it were. chris cillizza, see you in a bit, ruth marcus. a home coming seven weeks in the making for newman and his family at the san francisco airport. north korea released the 85-year-old california retiree and korean war vet after detaining him without explanation during the final day of a guided tour in that country. president joe biden in south korea honoring the korean war dead said he had no role in the negotiations. while praising newman's release vice president noted another american christian missionary

kenneth bay has been jailed more than a year. kim jong-un's powerful uncle, fourth behind the leader, has been percentaged from his military post. these images show the dramatic moment when he was hauled away by police from a meeting and arrested for what's described as criminal acts. south korea's ministry of unification, the uncle edited out of an official documentary. this is just the latest in the series of military purges since the death of kim jong-il. ♪ ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪

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proposals private over public education and too much of a burden on teachers. joining me now president of the american federation of teachers. randy, great to see you. >> great to be with you. >> what motivated this day of action. why do you feel public education is threatened. >> actually as we've seen from the recent results, which shows the united states basically just holding its own and not moving forward, the countries of the world that outcompete us understand that public education has to be the center of education. they have to port teachers and support parents and rich curriculum including arts and music and science. that's what we're calling for here. we're one of any number of groups, student or parent, community groups that says we

need a new school not fixated on testing, strategies that create winners and losers but we have to help all of our children achieve and succeed. that's why you see the largest coordinated group of action, 90 in all, set for different parts of time during the day today. >> with race to the top, one of the policies you think was a failure and has not improved the overall standing of american students. >> i think what happened was race to the top was too fixated on testing and not enough on teaching and learning. now, let me just be clear. race to the top is part of a $100 billion stimulus package that was really important to keep schools afloat during the worse recession since the great depression. what's happened, andrea, there's been too much of a focus on testing and on people in washington and in state capitals actually not listening to parents or to teachers who

actually believe, for example, in the standards but want the time to adapt and model and actually make sure they can differentiate to the needs of children. >> do you think teachers bear any burden at all, any blame, if you will, for the fact that american students are not only being stagnant but are 15 years old losing in math and science and reading and overall standings. i'm a huge believers in raising teachers' pay and elevating teachers to be the world-class important profession, critical profession. i think it's a national security issue. there's also the question of teacher accountability. some people are not natural born teachers. >> we all have to do a better job. as you and i have talked about

before, one of the reasons we've focused on teacher evaluation, something like tenure should not be a job for life, cloak of incompetence and not an excuse for managers not to manage. so if somebody can't teach, they shouldn't be teaching. the real issues we see in places like finland and singapore, those countries are actually supporting their teachers, preparing them, making sure they have the time to collaborate and the tools they need to do their job. frankly americans doing better than ever done but these countries like germany and poland, singapore have outflanked us because they are focusing on equity issues, focusing on valuing teachers and having parents engaged. we have to be all in. we can't give up -- we can't stop until we help every single child achieve their dream. >> thank you so much for being

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jeremy ross, through the snow. on his sleigh in the end zone, touchdown detroit. >> that is one example of the snowy mess that fans to deal with in the northeast on sunday. joining me now, same system snarled travel up and down the east coast. 1,000 flights were canceled it. mike seidel joins me from leesburg virginia. what's the track of the storm? >> first, i want to give you a nugget about philadelphia yesterday because i know you like weather nuggets, they had 8.6 inches of snow yesterday, more than philadelphia had all of last winter.

that kind of puts it in perspective how much lacking we were last winter. as far as this particular system, it's pretty much gone now, andrea. we have a little bit of snow up across maine and it's snowing in portland. temperatures have gone above freezing in the suburbs. let me show you, you can see the ice now. we had an inch of rain and temperatures below freezing. the trees were stressed. we have 70,000 customers in d.c. metro d.c. and out here in northern virginia without power. those numbers are slowly coming down. we had 4 inches of snow here and mentioned philadelphia over 8. newark and delaware had almost a foot of snow. we had another system that will join with moist from the gulf of mexico another round of snow in the d.c. metro area and

baltimore and we're looking for 3 to 5 inches here up towards new york city, probably an inch or two. airports today much better. yesterday dulles and reagan, 260 outbound flights canceled. today about a third and about 70. but, even with that, because of low clouds and ceiling, philadelphia and all three new york city airports right now averaging arrival delays of one and two hours. it's still not great and in dallas, they are still dealing with a backlog even today and 500 flights in and out of dfw canceled. i've lost count, 4,000 or 5,000 since last thursday. after this moves out tomorrow, it's going to get really cold for the rest of the week with highs running 15 to 20 grows below average. minneapolis st. paul at 1 below zero and windchill in the twin cities is 25 below zero, we have to put it in perspective here back east. >> thank you so much mike

seidel. great to see you in leesburg. that does it for us. thanks for being with us today. tomorrow on the show, prize winning columnist eugene robinson on mandela's life and legacy. my colleague, tamron hall has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> great to see you. coming up, the fight for unemployment benefits, more than 1 million out of work americans could lose out if congress does not vote for an extension before hefing for their break on friday. congressman join us with the back and forth. president obama and first lady on the way to south africa to pay respect for nelson mandela. presidents george w. bush and jimmy carter will attend the memorial being held at the same stadium where mandela made his last public appearance. we'll talk about the security challenges when half of the world's leaders are in one location. three teenagers arrested accused of letting their friend drive drunk before she crashed

and died. should the teenagers be held accountable? we'll discuss this next on "news nation." [ female announcer ] puffs knows winter is hard on your face. [ sneezes ] [ female announcer ] the start of sneeze season. the wind-blown watery eyes. [ sniffling ] the sniffling guy on the bus. and, of course, the snow angels with your little angels. that's why puffs plus lotion is soft. puffs plus are dermatologist tested to be gentle. they help soothe irritated skin by locking in moisture better. so you can always put your best face forward. a face in need deserves puffs indeed.

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plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options,

call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. right now on "news nation," will congress act to help over a million out of work americans set to lose their unemployment checks right after christmas? teenage boys under arrest accused of letting their friend drive drunk before she crashed into a tree and died. michael smerconish wants to discuss this one and we will. forcing a family to give up what they call a therapy pet that has helped their child who is autistic. it is our "news nation" gut check. hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall. we're following the urgent deadline looming for more than 1 million americans who could end up getting their final

unemployment check this month. with the house set to leave for holiday break this friday, congress has five days left to vote to extend the unemployment compensation program. if lawmakers fail to act, 1.3 million unemployed americans could get their last checks after christmas. the national employment law project estimates another 850,000 americans would run out of state supplemented benefits in the first three months of next year. a white house report estimates 3.6 million more americans could lose their benefits by the end of 2014. so with little time left, lawmakers must act urgently and make it a critical priority if it is to deal with the budget agreement. the debt -- the debate over extending benefits could threaten negotiations over the budget, however, last week as democrats dug their heels in, over an extension, house speaker john boehner suggested he would entertain the argue but argued responsibility lies with